Teaching the literary term ‘antihero’ is a favorite of mine. It’s everything that high school students love – weird, against the grain, out of the ordinary, tricky, and oftentimes, badly…
Teaching Grammar via Bloom’s Taxonomy
Teaching grammar naturally fits into everyday language arts lessons. The common core mandates that students study grammar. It may sound odd, but grammar is reinventing itself. If you are a teacher…
Henry David Thoreau Lesson Plan
Henry David Thoreau is a staple in American Literature curriculum. Taught during the transcendentalism time period, students analyze his writing and write about him. Other times they interpret what his…
Media Influence on Education
The media influence on education – matters. It matters to teachers, and it should matter to society too. I didn’t know it in high school, but the lyrics when I…
Teaching the Literary Term Symbolism
Teaching that literary term symbolism… students may have difficulty understanding all of its implications. A favorite literary term? Symbolism is it for me. When I teach The Great Gatsby, I must…
Visual Aid
Should students still make a physical visual aid? Teaching speech, a necessity is for students to know how to create a visual aid. Many schools do have access to electronic programs…
Character Colors
Character colors can be a fast and meaningful addition to literature discussions. True story: my class and I reviewed The Hunger Games. We highlighted important characteristics and actions of the…
Teaching the Writing Process by Writing With Your Students
Although I implement dozens of worksheets and tools when I create middle school lesson plans and high school lesson plans, I’ve found that writing alongside my students while teaching the writing…
Everyday Grammar
Is it possible to have everyday grammar? It probably is, but educators may need to have an honest discussion. This is my second discussion in the series Grammar Is Important.…
Grammar Is Important
Grammar is important – especially to gifted students. Are teachers cheating gifted students by ignoring grammar? Grammar is included in the common core so I teach it of course, and before…